harry nuriev's 'room thirty-six' reimagines legendary parisian hotel in hot pink

Harry Nuriev splashes hot pink in room thirty-six

New York and Paris-based artist and designer Harry Nuriev – Crosby Studios founder – interprets Hôtel La Louisiane in Saint-Germain-des-Prés as a site-specific, metaverse, and mixed-reality installation exploding in hot pink, pixelated walls, and under-surveillance visitors through a virtual CCTV camera. Titled Room Thirty-Six, the installation will be open to the public from October 20th to 23rd as part of the Bienvenue Art Fair, which will also display a selection of curated projects, each occupying a mythical room within the famed hotel. Following its debut at Bienvenue Art Fair, Room Thirty-Six will remain in place at the property where visitors can book a stay in the futuristic-designed space.

Aside from the physical installation and metaverse experience, Nuriev has developed a limited collection of NFTs where buyers can watch people in the hotel linger in the halls through a CCTV security camera (talk about being in a reality TV show). Each depicts a different view of the virtual environment – the waiting area, courtyard, and elevator – with just 33 copies available of each variation. NFT owners will receive an NFT room key one week after buying any of the NFT tapes, providing them access to an explorable version of Room Thirty-Six within the metaverse, an annex to the 3D model that they and their avatars previously explored in the metaverse.

images courtesy of Crosby Studios | image: Room 36 | header image: Lounge of La Louisiane Metaverse

Accompanied by a collection of security camera images & NFTs

Hôtel La Louisiane has three oval rooms, and with Room Thirty-Six, Harry Nuriev picks the largest one – the space favored by artists, writers, musicians, and actors since the 1930s – to be transformed into his metaverse and pixelated installation. He splashes explosive shades of magenta-like pink, decorates the walls with pixels, and adds sculptural furniture pieces and a circular bed frame reminiscent of a love hotel. A comprehensive, hotel-wide virtual rendition of La Louisiane is also waiting for the visitors in the metaverse should they want to check that out. The hotel lobby, cafeteria, and gardens do not escape Nuriev’s sight as the artist also works on these spaces with his signature hypnotic and psychedelic design.

Nuriev sees Hôtel La Louisiane as legendary and feels as though the past is present with anyone who steps in it. He reveres the walls as an emblem of history, reverberating the energy that the room’s  previous guests left when they stayed in it. Somehow, he feels as if this energy continues to linger and now watches guests. ‘This sensation extends through the Hôtel La Louisiane, where it feels as though individuals from the past remain with us, watching us go through our everyday motions,’ he shares. ‘This is what inspired the collection of security camera images and NFTs. I wanted to briefly imagine past guests of the hotel — both dead and alive — are present with us,  witnessing us explore the metaverse. For guests like Simone de Beauvoir, Nan Goldin, Jean-Paul Sartre and others, the cameras would offer a window into our current mixed reality and a way to see the immense change.’

Room 36

Room 36 has been home to singers, directors, and creatives

Bienvenue Art Fair Founder Olivier Robert comments that in Room Thirty-Six, the absence of strong angles gives the impression of a room forgotten, left behind at the very end of the third-floor corridor. ‘In this way the space lends itself to all forms of creation and original layouts,’ he says. Historically, room 36 – the real room – is one of La Louisiane’s most mythical rooms considering that Barbet Schroeder filmed scenes from his film ‘More in the space’ in it and singer Amanda Lear briefly resided in it. ‘It has garnered an illustrious legacy over the years, causing individuals like Quentin Tarantino and so many others to continually request this room and not another when visiting,’ Robert adds. With Room Thirty-Six, Harry Nuriev gives a privileged opportunity to the outsiders to peek inside the famed hotel room ala metaverse.

Room 36

bathroom of Room 36

bathroom of Room 36

toilet of Room 36

cafeteria of La Louisiane Metaverse

NFT security footage

project info:

name: Room Thirty-Six

artist: Harry Nuriev

studio: Crosby Studios

event: Bienvenue Art Fair

location: Hôtel La Louisiane, Saint-Germain-des-Prés

dates: October 20th to 23rd, 2022